Storms spark big run on salt, melt products

February 14, 2014

The change from heavy snow to rain as another storm battered the area Thursday afternoon had area highway department officials crossing their fingers that it might also mean a reprieve in the use of rock salt for the storm.

Rock salt is mixed with the sand highway departments lay down on roads as part of their storm cleanup efforts and has been in short supply this season due to the wide reach of winter weather across the country.

Lincoln Public Works Director Michael Gagnon said his town was lucky enough on Thursday to receive a delivery of two loads of road salt it had on order from the stateâ€™s supplier, Morton Salt in Providence, and he expected that would carry the town through the current storm.

â€śWe have enough for this storm, Iâ€™m confident of that,â€ť Gagnon said. Sand supplies were not an issue and the town has had no difficulty ordering all that it needs, he added. The changeover to rain was also helping with the demand for ice control supplies so long as the temperatures stayed above freezing, he noted.